We have just published a new case study about how the Covenant city of Lahti (Finland) is supporting citizens’ choices for more energy efficient buildings!

Lahti approved its environmental programme, including new targets for 2030 and 2050, in June 2018. This ambitious programme serves as a roadmap for Lahti to achieve its objective to become carbon neutral by 2025. For its outstanding achievements, and its ability to produce applicable environmental solutions for other cities and for various conditions, Lahti won the European Green Capital Award for the year 2021.

The Finnish city has already cut down greenhouse emissions by 70% compared to the level of 1990. To continue towards carbon neutrality, Lahti launched the project Energy Choice in 2016 to help citizens to reduce CO2 emissions through shifting their energy production from fossil fuels to renewable and greener sources. The project provides information and practical evidence of the potential financial and CO2 savings in citizens’ properties. It targeted Lahti and Lappeenranta.

The project Energy Choice was developed on the idea of making the data available to citizens through an online platform that would guide them through the different energy choices available to them. Citizens can use the platform free of charge by entering their property address into the service or selecting it from the map. Users can also visually explore the city buildings using the solar energy and/or geothermal energy maps. These maps help citizens to visually assess solar energy as the map analyses solar potential while also taking into account shade restrictions by other buildings. On the website it is possible to add additional information about the property to obtain a more detailed response. After the consultation, users can request a quote for the different energy options and get in contact with the energy companies in the area.

Results

Energy Choice has proved to be a helpful tool to Lahti’s city-owned rental housing company Lahden Talot Ltd. Besides helping in the housing company’s long-term budgeting, the platform has provided insight into properties’ energy consumption, and helped make choices for retrofitting the houses that are oldest and in a worse condition and build new energy-efficient ones.